Hockey Scores?

With 1200 entries received for CBC's "Hockey Night In Canada Theme" contest, this entry -- "Hockey Scores!" -- is the most viewed and most voted entry:



Clearly, HNIC fans are still upset about CBC dropping the ball on the old theme, losing it to TSN.

According to this article, having the most votes does not guarantee a win for the entry.

The "ratings," "recommendations" and "most viewed" portions of the contest website are just some of the factors judges will consider when selecting the contest semi-finalists, who will be presented to the country and judged by a celebrity panel on a CBC network television special on Oct. 4.

It sure would have been funny though. :)

Maybe I need more than new glasses?

Like perhaps a kick in the ass?

I went to the optometrist on Saturday for an eye examination. My former reading glasses weren't doing their job. I can read fine if the text is about 2ft away, but for anything closer I have to strain.

I tend to wear my old reading glasses all the time -- even when driving. They're comfortable and I can see well doing pretty much anything, except when it comes to reading a book, magazine, or newspaper.

As it turned out, my former "distance/driving" glasses are now too strong and my former reading glasses have become general purpose glasses. So, realistically I need new driving glasses and new reading glasses. He said at the very least, get new reading glasses as I can get away with using my now-general-purpose glasses for everything else.

So, that's what I did.

As usual, I went to LensCrafters since they're located right next door to the optometrist's office.

I'm using the frames from my old driving glasses, so all I need is new lenses.

Can you believe that the machine they use to make the lenses was broken down, AGAIN? They were waiting on a part that was supposed to arrive this past Monday. That's what happened the last time and I waited over a week. Here's my last experience there. She told me that they would be ready "some time next week", meaning THIS week. I asked her if that's what she meant, and she said it was.

To be fair, she did tell me that I could go to one of the other locations if I needed them sooner. However, since I'm not in as much of a rush (or inconvenience) as the last time, I told her that was fine.

5 days and counting. I'm giving them until Saturday before I call. When Sunday rolls around, it's no longer "next week".

Coloured bubbles

My wife had a doctor appointment yesterday. While we sat in the waiting room, we flipped through some of the old Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines that they had in the waiting room. We had a good laugh at some of the "new" products of 1995 and how they've changed in the last 13 years.

After a long wait, my wife's name was called, leaving me alone to continue reading these wonder magazines. :) I found a more recent Popular Science magazine from 1995 and started flipping through it. It wasn't long before something caught my eye.

Coloured bubbles.

I've never seen a coloured bubble before. But how is this worthy of Popular Science? Surely it can't be that difficult to create? Apparently, it is.

I started reading the article. It took Tim Kehoe 11 years to perfect, and that was before this article was written in 2005. The article went on to say that in the toy industry, where the average shelf life of a toy is 18 months, bubbles are "the juggernaut". In 1995, 200 million bottles of bubbles were being sold every year. With a coloured bubbles, they could enter entirely new markets.

So, it would appear that coloured bubbles could be HUGE.

"Picture bubbles in NFL team colors, or bubbles that match charity ribbons. The potential market would grow to include every man, woman and child."

Unfortunately my wife was ready to leave before I was able to finish reading the article. :(

I did a quick search this afternoon and found the web site for the company and the product. The product is called Zubbles. I was rather shocked to see that they're still not available for sale. 13 years ago they were perfected and yet you still can't buy them? I guess that's why I've never seen them.

I also found the article online: The 11-Year Quest to Create Disappearing Colored Bubbles

It's worth reading. I'm sure you non-chemistry types are also curious about why colouring a bubble isn't as easy as it sounds. :)

Man sues Tennessee church for $2.5 million over spiritual fall

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A man in Knoxville, Tenn., says he was so consumed by the spirit of God that he fell and hit his head while worshipping.

Man sues Tennessee church for $2.5 million over spiritual fall

For the sake of the human race, I hope at least one (or both!) of the following happens:

• The judge laughs this man's ass out of court.
• The man get a bigger dose of "the spirit of God" so that he doesn't get back up the next time he falls.

Quebec set to allow yellow margarine

Must be a slow news day: Quebec set to allow yellow margarine

HDR Photography

Image via WikipediaI've discovered HDR photography.

What started as a simple browsing of some awesome photos taken by Chris Paltzat, turned into browsing various photo groups on Flickr that pertain to my Canon S3 IS, which in turn brought me to an HDR photograph Flickr group.

A quick Google search revealed to me exactly what the "Autoexposure Bracket" feature on my camera is used for. My interest peaked, and another Google search told me that I have software that can do the processing, and have had it all along: Corel's Paintshop Pro X2.

Now I'm anxious to get started and find some nice scenery to shoot.

Back to Chris Paltzat's blog. I had a brief email exchange with him after I sent him a message about his photos. He's a self-taught "amateur" photographer. I hesitate to say he's an amateur, because his photos are quite impressive. But, that's what he claims to be. I asked him for tips and his advice was to read as much as I can, and he kindly referred me to a few books with two of them being highly recommended. I plan to pick both of them up as soon as I can. (Thanks again, Chris!)

If you get a chance, drop by Chris's blog -- three six six -- and have a look around. He's posting a new photo every day of the year.

I'm a qualifier!

The Ottawa Sun is running a contest to win a Smart Car and $1200 in gas.I've been entering daily since it began in April. Each week, scouring their web site for tiny car pic, and submitting the locations for it it after collecting 3 days worth.

This afternoon my daughter answered an unknown phone number. I was outside hanging Canada Day decorations on the house when she came out and said "Daddy, the phone is for you."

"Who is it?"

"I dunno.. they asked for Scott".

"So why did you answer it?" I'm thinking it's a telemarketer. We rarely ever answer the phone when we don't recognize the number.

It was someone from the Ottawa Sun. The first thought in my mind was they were going to ask me to subscribe. Even though we already do, we've had calls in the past asking us to subscribe. Weird.

Luck was on my side this time. They were calling to tell me that I am a weekly qualifier!

Sometime in October after the contest is over, they'll have a "wrap-up event" for all qualifiers. I have a 1 in 34 chance of winning the car and the $1200 in gas. Just for being a qualifier, I win $100 in gas.

I'm stoked. :)